Method of forming a continuous band of natural tobacco

ABSTRACT

Method of forming a continuous band of natural tobacco, primarily with a view to forming cigar wrappers to be cut from said band by cutting from tobacco leaves fragments of polygonal shape and joining said fragments together comprising the steps of constituting at least one series of leaves in which the leaves are oriented in the same direction and the leaf ribs are raised on the same side of a plane, then cutting on each side of the midribs of said leaves trapezoidal fragments having the same height, removing the leaf fragments which project from the trapezoidal shape, then displacing the two half-leaves of one leaf in such a manner as to ensure that the long bases thereof are aligned with the short bases of the two half-leaves of an adjacent leaf and finally joining together along the non-parallel sides of the trapezoid the successive half-leaves which have thus been aligned.

United States Patent 1191 1111 3,744,498

Imbert 1 July 10, 1973 METHOD OF FORMING A CONTINUOUS PrimaryExaminer-Robert W. Michell BAND OF NATURAL TOBACCO AssistantExaminer-John F. Pitrelli [75] Inventor: Pierre Imbert,Fleury-les-Aubrais, Attorney-Sparrow & Sparrow France [73] Assignee:Service dExploitation Industrielle [57] ABSTRACT dc T P i France Methodof forming a continuous band of natural tobacco, primarily with a viewto forming cigar wrappers [22] Med: 1 1971 to be cut from said band bycutting from tobacco leaves {2}} A l N 123,171 fragments of polygonalshape and joining said fragments together comprising the steps ofconstituting at least one series of leaves in which the leaves are ori-[52] US. Cl. 131/149 ented in the Same direction and the leaf ribs areraised [51] Illt. Cl A24b 03/16 on h same Side f a plane then cutting oneach side [58] Fleld 0f SCSIClI l 3 H149, 148, l25, of the midribs ofsaid leaves trapezoidal fragments haw 131/124 ing the same height,removing the leaf fragments which project from the trapezoidal shape,then displacing the [56] References d two half-leaves of one leaf insuch a manner as to en- UNITED STATES PATENTS sure that the long basesthereof are aligned with the 3,352,308 11/1967 Lindgren 131/148 x rt bae of t o half-leaves of an j t leaf 864,948 9/1907 Butler 131/149 UX andfinally joining together along the non-parallel sides FOREIGN PATENTS 0RAPPLICATIONS of the trapezoid the successive half-leaves which have thusbeen aligned. 1,247,918 8/1967 Germany 131/149 5 Claims, 6 DrawingFigures PAIENTEB JUL}! 0 ms SHEET 1 0f 2 INve mm; PiQy-ve 1 b t gsvlrrowam sP ATToRue y 1 METHOD OF FORMING A CONTINUOUS BAND OF NATURAL TOBACCOThis invention relates to a method of forming a continuous band ofnatural tobacco, primarily with a view to forming cigar wrappers to becut from said band.

A number of methods have already been employed for the purpose offorming a continuous band of tobacco from natural tobacco leaves.

One of these known methods consists in cutting strips of constant widthfrom the leaves and joining said strips in end-to-end relation withoutconsidering whether said strips are derived from either the left or theright-hand side with respect to the midrib.

There is thus obtained a band having ribs which are oriented either inone direction or the other according as they are derived from theleft-hand or right-hand portion of the leaf. However, this method givesrise to a substantial loss of material.

Furthermore, the shape of the leaf makes it necessary to cut-out anumber of very narrow strips in order to achieve maximum economy ofmaterial. These strips which are placed end-to-end constitute a band ofmaterial which is made fragile by reason of its small width; the stripsare difficult to handle, are liable to tear and consequently to make theband unfit for further use.

Another known method consists in cutting from each half-leaf in acontinuous line of leaves a fragment having a geometrical shape such asa rectangle or isosceles trapezoid, for example, and in transferring intranslational motion those halfleaves which are located on theright-hand side of the leaf-line axis between the half-leaves which arelocated on the left-hand side of said axis. The fragments which arejoined together then form a band having ribs disposed in a herringboneconfiguration but this arrangement can be subject to disadvantages.

The method according to the invention makes it possible to obtain acontinuous band of trapezoidal fragments in which all the ribs areparallel to each other.

The method as herein defined consists first of all in constituting atleast one series of leaves in which the leaves are oriented in the samedirection and the leaf ribs are raised on the same side of a plane, thencutting on each side of the midribs of said leaves trapezoidal fragmentshaving the same height, removing the leaf fragments which project fromthe trapezoidal shape, then displacing the two half-leaves of one leafin such a manner as to ensure that the long bases thereof are alignedwith the short bases of the two half-leaves of an adjacent leaf andfinally joining together along the nonparallel sides of the trapezoidthe successive half-leaves which have thus been aligned.

By displacing the two trapezoids which have been cut from the halfleavesof the same leaf under the conditions indicated in the foregoing, thatis to say in order that the long bases thereof should bealigned with theshort bases of the trapezoids which are cut from the half-leaves. ofadjacent leaves, two bands each having parallel ribs are thusconstituted.

The trapezoidal fragments which are cut from the half-leaves haveunequal angles at the base and the In accordance with a furthercharacteristic feature of theinveion, the two half-leaves of eachalternate leaf in a series of leaves is displaced through an angle of180 in a movement of rotation of each half-leaf in the plane of thislatter. 1

Said rotation through 180 makes it possible not only to change theorientation of the leaf ribs but to join the non-parallel sides of onetrapezoid to the corresponding non-parallel sides of the preceding andfollowing trapezoids.

Another mode of application of the method consists in displacing thehalf-leaves constituting a continuous series of leaves by translationalmotion of said halfleaves between the half-leaves constituting a secondseries of leaves which is parallel to the first, the leaves of thesecond series being oriented in the direction opposite to the leaves ofthe first series.

Head-to-tail orientation of the two lines of leaves maintains a parallelrelation between the ribs of each half-leaf of one line and thehalf-leaves of the other line and thus results only in the need fortranslational motion of the half-leaves of one line between thehalfleaves of the other line.

The half-leaves which are located on the left-hand side of the axis ofone leaf-line will advantageously be displaced between the half-leaveslocated on the rightlargest angle corresponds to that portion of leafwhich.

is adjacent to the thick end of the midrib.

In consequence, losses of material are limited to a minimum value as aresult of application of the method.

hand side of the axis of the other series, whereupon the half-leaveslocated on the right-hand side of the axis of the first line are broughtbetween thehalf-leaves located on the left-hand side of the axis of thesecond line.

The description which is now given below constitutes only onenon-[imitative example of the invention.

Reference will be made to the accompanying drawings, in which FIGS. 1,2, 3 illustrate the steps of a method according to the invention and inwhich FIGS. 4, S, 6 illustrate the steps of anotehr embodiment of saidmethod. These figures show the design solution which consists in cuttingtrapezoids having unequal angles at the base.

As shown in FIG. 1, a line of leaves 1, 2, 3 is formed so that theleaves are displaced with the thick end of the midrib foremost. Theleaves are all disposed with the raised portions of their ribs locatedon the same side of the leaf plane.

As shown in FIG. 2, the leaves are stemmed and fragments 4, 5, 6, 7, 8,9 of trapezoidal shape are cut from each half-leaf. In the case of eachleaf, the two trapezoids 4, 5 are symmetrical with respect to the axisof the leaf-line. Said trapezoids have unequal angles at the base andthelargest angle corresponds to that portion of the leaf which is adjacentto the thick end of the midrib in order to utilize the leaf material tothe maximum extent.

The twotrapezoids 6 and 7 are then caused to pivot in their planethrough an angle of in the case of one leaf out of two by rotating thetrapezoid 6 clockwise and the trapezoid 7 in the anticlockwisedirection.

One extremity of each trapezoid is then coated with adhesive and thetrapzeiods of successive half-leaves are then placed in overlappingrealtion. One of the two bands thus formed is constituted by theframents 4, 6, 8 and the other band is constituted by the fragments 5,7, 9.

As shown in FIG. 4, two lines of leaves are formed the leaves 10, 11, 12constitute the first line and the leaves 13, 14, 15 constitute thesecond line. The leaves are oriented in the direction of the arros. Theleaves 10, 11, 12 are oriented with the thick end of the midribforemost whereas the leaves 13, 14, 15 are oriented in the oppositedirection so that the tips are foremost.

As shown in FIG. 5, there are cut from each leaf trapezoids 16, 17, 18,19, 20, 21, 22, 23 having unequal angles at the base and the largestangle corresponds to the portion which is adjacent to the thick end ofthe midrib. The trapezoid is displaced in translational motion andinserted between the trapezoid 17 of the leaf 10 and the trapezoid 19 ofthe leaf l1, whereupon the trapezoid 21 is displaced between thetrapezoid 16 of the leaf 10 and the trapezium 18 of the leaf 11. Twobands are thus obtained as shown in FIG. 6, one band being made up ofthe trapezoids 16, 21, 18 and the other band being made up of thetrapezoids 17, 20, 19.

The bands which are thus formed in accordance with one of theembodiments of the method of the invention will subsequently be cut forthe manufacture of cigarwrappers which are provided in each band withparallel ribs, the surface elevations formed by said ribs being locatedon the same side of the leaf plane.

What I claim is:

1..Method of forming a continuous band of natural tobacco, primarilywith a view to forming cigar wrappers to be cut from said band bycutting from tobacco leaves fragments of polygonal shape and joiningsaid fragments together, comprising the steps of constituting at leastone series of leaves inwhich the leaves are oriented in the samedirection and the leaf ribs are raised on the same side of a plane, thencutting on each side of the midribs of said leaves trapezoidal fragmentshaving the same height, removing the leaf fragments which project fromthe trapezpidal shape, then displacing the two half-leaves of one leafin such a manner as to ensure that the long bases thereof are alignedwith the short bases of the two half-leaves of an adjacent leaf and thatthe ribs of adjacent trapezoidal fragments are oriented in substantiallythe same direction, and finally joining together along the non-parallelsides of the trapezoids the successive half-leaves which have thus beenaligned.

2. Method according to claim 1 wherein the two halfleaves of eachalternate leaf in a series of leaves is displaced through an angle of ina movement of rotation of each half-leaf in the plane of this latter.

3. Method according to claim 1 wherein are constituted two series ofleaves parallel to one another, the leaves of one series being orientedin the direction opposite to the leaves of the other series, and thehalfleavesof each leave of one series are brought by translationalmotion between the half-leaves of the leaves of the other series.

4. Method according to claim 3 wherein the halfleaves which are locatedon the left-hand side of the axis of one leaf-line are brought betweenthe halfleaves located on the right-hand side of the axis of the otherseries, whereupon the half-leaves located on the right-hand side of theaxis of the first line are brought between the half-leaves locatedon theleft-hand-side of the axis of the second line.

5. Method of forming a continuous band of natural tobacco, primarilywith a view to forming cigar wrappers to be cut from said band bycuttingfrom tobacco leaves fragments of polygonal shape and joining saidfragments togehter, comprising the steps of constituting at least oneseries of leaves in which the leaves are oriented in the same directionand the leaf ribs are rasied on the same side of a plane, then cuttingon each side of the midribs of said leaves trapezoidal fragments havingthe same height, removing the leaf fragments which project form thetrapezoidal shape, then displacing the two half-leaves of one leaf insuch a manner as to ensure that the long bases thereof are aligned withthe short bases of the two half-leaves of an adjacent leaf and finallyjoining together along the non-parallel sides of me trapezoids thesuccessive half-leaves which have thus been aligned, the trapezpoidalfragments which are cut from the half-leaves having unequal angles atthe ends of the long base and the largest angle corresponding to thatportion of leaf which is adjacent to the thick end of the midrib.

t II l l

1. Method of forming a continuous band of natural tobacco, primarilywith a view to forming cigar wrappers to be cut from said band bycutting from tobacco leaves fragments of polygonal shape and joiningsaid fragments together, comprising the steps of constituting at leastone series of leaves in which the leaves are oriented in the samedirection and the leaf ribs are raised on the same side of a plane, thencutting on each side of the midribs of said leaves trapezoidal fragmentshaving the same height, removing the leaf fragments which project fromthe trapezoidal shape, then displacing the two half-leaves of one leafin such a manner as to ensure that the long bases thereof are alignedwith the short bases of the two half-leaves of an adjacent leaf and thatthe ribs of adjacent trapezoidal fragments are oriented in substantiallythe same direction, and finally joining together along the non-parallelsides of the trapezoids the successive half-leaves which have thus beenaligned.
 2. Method according to claim 1 wherein the two half-leaves ofeach alternate leaf in a series of leaves is displaced through an angleof 180* in a movement of rotation of each half-leaf in the plane of thislatter.
 3. Method according to claim 1 wherein are constituted twoseries of leaves parallel to one another, the leaves of one series beingoriented in the direction opposite to the leaves of the other series,and the half-leaves of each leave of one series are brought bytranslational motion between the half-leaves of the leaves of the otherseries.
 4. Method according to claim 3 wherein the half-leaves which arelocated on the left-hand side of the axis of one leaf-line are broughtbetween the half-leaves located on the right-hand side of the axis ofthe other series, whereupon the half-leaves located on the right-handside of the axis of the first line are brought between the half-leaveslocated on the left-hand side of the axis of the second line.
 5. Methodof forming a continuous band of natural tobacco, primarily with a viewto forming cigar wrappers to be cut from said band by cutting fromtobacco leaves fragments of polygonal shape and joining said fragmentstogether, comprising the steps of constituting at least one series ofleaves in which the leaves are oriented in the same direction and theleaf ribs are raised on the same side of a plane, then cutting on eachside of the midribs of said leaves trapezoidal fragments having the sameheight, removing the leaf fragments which project from the trapezoidalshape, then displacing the two half-leaves of one leaf in such a manneras to ensure that the long bases thereof are aligned with the shortbasEs of the two half-leaves of an adjacent leaf and finally joiningtogether along the non-parallel sides of the trapezoids the successivehalf-leaves which have thus been aligned, the trapezoidal fragmentswhich are cut from the half-leaves having unequal angles at the ends ofthe long base and the largest angle corresponding to that portion ofleaf which is adjacent to the thick end of the midrib.